By most--but by no means all--accounts, Tammy Haddad is a pretty good TV producer. So most likely, she'll find another job somewhere, now that she is leaving her current main gig MSNBC.
But on the other hand, Haddad is not a goddess of television. And her main man in TV, Chris Matthews, is not a god, either. And MSNBC is still, after 11 years, not a success. Indeed, it's an ungodly failure.
Eventually, the reality will catch up with the mythology. The reality is that MSNBC, which once was supposed to be the future of TV, as it converged with the net, has been a big disappointment. From the days of the "Starbucks" studio set, to those wacky-yuppie "friends" who didn't know anything about the news that they were on air to talk about, to the very idea that Microsoft was going to be the pioneer into the 21st century cyber future, MSNBC was built by Bob Wright's ego, on a cynical platform of OPM--Other People's Money.
Similarly, Matthews always had more buzz inside the Beltway than he did a genuine audience. Like Haddad, he is talented enough--way back when, his first book, Hardball, was an instant classic, and a reminder that Matthews, a onetime Democratic political operative, really did have something to say about politics. Yes, he talks too much, and yes, he has become a sort of parody of himself, but still...
Hmmm. Wait a second, let's think about this: A big talent, mishandled. Misproduced, one might say? Come to think of it, maybe Chris actually did need a better producer than Haddad, someone who was more worried about the show as it appeared on the air, rather than her own press clippings as they appeared in Georgetown and the Palisades, someone who would tell the "Hardball" host to stop talking so much, stop overriding his guests, and stop practically foaming at the mouth on camera.
But because nobody properly produced Matthews, nor adequately policed his ego, the show faltered. It was no wonder that out beyond the Beltway, "Hardball" was so low-rated. Everyone may have an inflated opinion of himself or herself, but we tend not to like such ego inflation in others, night after night. So yes, "Hardball" is watched at The Irish Times pub on North Capitol Street in DC, or the Hawk & Dove on Pennsylvania Avenue SE, but there aren't enough Capitol Hill staffers to support a TV show--and of course, a lot of staffers watch Fox, or even CNN.
Yes, such an small and noisy insider audience could generate buzz, and Tammy could certainly generate buzz--as when a sycophant at US News referred to her just last year as "The most influential woman behind the TV news camera in Washington." (Yeah sure; how did she get that writeup? Maybe she just was more astute about booking Mort Zuckerman the most times, than about snaring flyover country eyeballs.)
But buzz, generated by Matthews, or Haddad, must eventually translate into ratings--or else. And the stubborn fact is this: MSNBC is third in the ratings and that's finally starting to sink in, with the Wall Street number crunchers. As noted here at TCG, the break-up wolves are starting to circle GE, parent to NBCU and then to MSNBC (and CNBC).
According to reports, Haddad is staying on at MSNBC, even if she's been removed as EP of "Hardball." And that might be true, she might be staying as VP--after all, here's no shortage of longterm deadwood at NBCU.
But the handwriting is on the wall, insiders tell TCG: If Haddad is gone from her prime gig, then Matthews will likely be next. And it's hard to imagine that MSNBC, at least in its current form, will be around all that much longer.
